STORRS — Knowing full well no one is going to feel sorry for them because of their illnesses and injuries, the UConn women will forge ahead without Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis for the next three to six weeks determined to gain strength from their most recent adversity.

Mosqueda-Lewis' absence because of mononucleosis means that the rest of the regular season, beginning with today's game at South Florida, is an opportunity for the No. 1-ranked Huskies (25-0) to improve their depleted, inconsistent bench.

That process starts by integrating junior guard Brianna Banks back into the playing rotation. She'll be in the starting lineup after missing three of the last five games with a chronic left ankle injury.

The Huskies will also have to demand more from inconsistent junior center Kiah Stokes and struggling freshman guard Saniya Chong. Coach Geno Auriemma said he's not sure the team's lack of depth could be more of a concern than it is right now with Morgan Tuck out for the season recovering from knee surgery. The Huskies have only seven full scholarship players.

"Some of these guys I ask, 'Why were you better in November and December than you are now?' and they go, 'Because you really needed me then,'" Auriemma said. "So what? All of a sudden, LeBron (James), Kobe (Bryant) and Kevin Durant decided they were going to play for UConn women's basketball and we don't need you anymore? Last time I looked at our roster, we could use all the help we can get. You don't know what goes through kids' minds. But it is safe to say right now, it's all hands on deck."

Banks can provide the biggest hand because the Huskies really need a perimeter player to emerge. She's shown in the past that she's athletic enough to be a slashing scorer, a 3-point shooter and a harassing defensive player.

Banks started eight games this season while Mosqueda-Lewis was recovering from an elbow injury, but she's been very limited over the past month due to pain and swelling in her ankle. Since the Temple game on Jan. 11, she's played 20 minutes or more in only one game, at Cincinnati Feb. 1, and she tweaked the injury in that game and hasn't played since.

She said Friday that she was really excited to take part in most of practice for the first time in a while.

"I just went out there and played," Banks said. "I'm not really thinking about my ankle right now. I'm trying to develop my game and get right so I can play for my teammates and help them win."

She said the swelling isn't completely gone but it is under control much better than it has been in the last month. She will play today with a new brace that laces up to give her more support for the entire ankle.

Auriemma said she looks like she is ready to play. He said the last time she tried to come back and play, he noticed a limp, but he hasn't seen her favoring it at all this week.

"To Brianna's credit it is like you sprain it and then you come back, it is not 100 percent, you practice a little bit, you play, you tweak it again, it gets worse, now it takes a little bit longer, you come back, you tweak it again and it is just re-occurring. Finally, I hope, I am not 100 percent certain, she's got it under control. It is good enough she can go."

Banks is averaging only 4.8 points, but she does have 33 assists to only 17 turnovers.

She certainly can't make up for Mosqueda-Lewis' absence completely as she has made only one 3-pointer in her last 12 games, but she's a solid player to plug into the lineup. She also did have 11 3-pointers in the eight games in which she started for Mosqueda-Lewis.

"It is great having her back," Stefanie Dolson said. "She is another person who has gone through a lot this year. I think it will take a few practices for her to really get back into it, to get into the flow, but I thought she looked great (Friday). She was hustling. She was playing hard, taking good shots. I am glad to see the way she is playing now, being back already, and she is just going to add to our offense.

"Offensively she just adds another player who can attack the basket or attack the rim, and defensively she is like another (Moriah Jefferson). She is fast. She can get in passing lanes, and she can guard one of their best players. She is just a very important part of our team."

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